Machine for laying gold-leaf.



- F. A. PUTNAM: MACHINE FOR LAYING GOLD LEAF. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 22. 1915.

Patented Mar; 12, 1918.

3 SHEETS--SHEET I- Invenibr. Fred A. Puinam F. A. PUTNAM. MACHINE FOR LAYING GOLD LEAF;

' z APPLICATION FILED OCT. 22. 1915- 1 Q58 QQQ, Patented Mal-.12, 1918.

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F.A. PUTNAM. MACHINE FOR LAYING ,GOLD LEAF.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 22, I915.

Patented Mar. 12, 1918.

3 5HEETS-SHEET 3- Inventor Fred A. Purnom bywwxf tunrrn srra rns raa nnr men.

FRED A. PUTNAM, OF MELROSE, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR LAYING GOLD-LEAF.

Application filed. October 22, 1915.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRED A. PUTNAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Melrose, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Machines for Laying Gold-Leaf, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This invention relates to machines for laying metal leaf, (such, for instance, as gold leaf, silver leaf, etc.) or making a metal leaf impression on cloth, leather, paper or other similar goods, and the object of the invention is to provide a machine by which the metal leaf can be securely laid and a sharp impression made without the necessity of first sizing the work, and without the consequent danger that the work will become soiled or stained by the sizing operation.

In the following description the metal leaf is referred to as gold-leaf, but this is done merely for purposes of description and not for the purpose of limiting the invention to the use of gold leaf, as the invention is equally applicable to any other metal leaf.

The usual practice in laying gold-leaf is to first apply a sizing to the face of the work, then lay the goldleaf over the sized portion of the work and press a heated impression die against the goldleaf. The portion of the gold-leaf with which the die contacts will adhere to the work, but the rest of the gold-leaf will be free from the work and can be easily brushed off thereby leaving the gold-leaf impression. In carrying out this operation, however, it frequently happens that the work becomes stained around the impression, or some of the gold-leaf outside of the impression die will adhere to the sized surface of the work, thus making a defect in the impression. My invention avoids these difliculties by providing a machine which will make a clear-cut gold-leaf impression without any danger of staining or defacing the work. I accomplish this by providing a machine constructed to size the face of the impression die before the latter is brought against the gold leaf and after the impression has been made to give the die a second coating of sizing and then to press the sized die again against the impression. The gold-leaf is sufficiently Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Mar. 12, 191.8.

Serial No. 57,360.

porous so that the sizing which has been applied to the face of the die will penetrate the gold-leaf and furnish sufficient sizing between the gold-leaf and the work to cause the gold-leaf to adhere. This avoids the necessity of sizing the work and obviates the disadvantages incident thereto. I have found also that by giving the gold-leaf a second impression with the sized die a more clear-cut and brilliant or lustrous impression can be made. Another advantage resulting from sizing the die is that it eliminates any danger that the gold-leaf or the paper backing therefor will stick to the die.

In order to give an understanding of my invention, I have illustrated in the drawings a selected embodiment thereof which will now be described.

Figure 1 is a side view of a machine embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the head thereof;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3, Fig. 2;

Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 are diagram views showing difl'erent steps in making a gold leaf or other metal impression by my improved machine; 7

9 is a view of the gold-leaf strip which I preferably use;

Fig. 10 is a detail view of the stop device for limiting the swinging movement of the frame carrying the metal strip, said figure being a section on the line 10-10, Fig. 3.

3 indicates a platen on which the work is supported and 4 is an impression die by which the gold leaf impression is made. The platen and die are mounted for movement relative to each other so as to permit the die to be brought against the work and then removed therefrom. This relative movement is herein provided for by supporting the die upon a movable element. The operative parts of the machine are sustained on a suitable frame 1 which is herein shown as having a bracket 2 on which the platen 3 is supported. The impression die is shown as secured to a holder 5 that in turn is mounted in a vertically-reciprocating head 6. The holder is preferably made hollow so that an electrical heating unit 7 can be inserted thereinto thereby providing the necessary heat for heating the die 4. The head 6 may be sustained for vertical movement toward and from the platen 3 in any suitable way. As herein shown said head is provided with a stem 8 reciprocating'in the portion 9 ofthe frame 1, said stem having a toggle lever 10 connected to the upper end thereof which is connected by a link 11 to a crank on a shaft 12 so that as the shaft rotates the toggle lever will be straightened and broken thereby raising and lowering the head 6. This is not essential to my invention, however, as any means for moving the impression die 4: toward and from the platen 3 may be provided without departing from my invention.

The machine herein shown is adapted to operate with gold leaf in the form of a strip 13 which is wound in a roll 1% and the goldleaf preferably will be secured to a backing 15 strip 15 of thin porous paper.

In r aking an impression with my improved machine a coating of sizing is first applied to the die 1 while the same is hot, and then the gold-leaf strip 13 is brought into proper position. to he acted on by the die with the paper backing 15 toward the die, and the sized heated die 4 is brought against the paper backing 15 with the required amount of pressure. The sizing on the face 5 of the heated die will penetrate the hacking 15 and the gold-leaf and will find its way between the gold-leaf and the work 20 so that the portion of the gold-leaf with which the impression die has contact will adhere to the work. After this impression has been made, the die is removed from the gold-leaf strip and the latter is removed f om the work and the die is then given another coating of sizing and is again brought against the. work in exactly the same place in which the first impression was made. This second impression of the sized die against the gold-leaf which has been caused to adhere to the work, will seal the gold-leaf impression and will give to it a desirable luster or brilliancy.

Any suitable means for thus applying the sizing to the impression die may be. employed without departing from my invention. I have herein shown for this purpose a sizing roll 16 which is carried by a yokeshaped frame 17 pivotally mounted at 18 to a bracket 19 carried by the head 6, and have provided means for swinging this frame 17 to carry the sizing roll across the face of the impression die. 20 is a. sizing plate adapted to receive a certain amount of sizing, said plate being situated so that the roll 16 will move across the face thereof during the movement of the frame 17. The sizing roll 16 thus receives a supply of sizing at each swinging movement thereof. The means for swinging the frame 17 comprises a link 21 pivotally connected to the frame and connected to a crank 22 fast on the shaft 12.

In order to carry out the operation above described it is necessary that the gold-leaf strip 13 be so sustained that at one down ward movement of the impression die said strip will be in position to overlie the work to make the required impression and at the next downward movement of said impression die said strip will be moved out of the way so as to permit the die to come directly against the gold-leaf impression previously made on the work. To provide for this l employ a movable carrier by which the gold leaf is supported and means for moving the carrier into and out of operative position. This carrier is shown as a yoke-shaped frame 23 which is pivoted to the bracket 19 to turn about the same axis as the swinging frame 17. This yoke-shaped frame 23 is provided with an arm 2 on which the gold leaf roll 14 is mounted said frame also being provided on the opposite side with an arm carrying feeding means for feeding the gold-leaf strip forward. This feeding means is in the form of a roll 26 pivotet to the arm and around which the strip 13 extends, and a feed roll 27 pivoted at 28 to the arm and cotiperating with the roll 26 to feed the strip forward. The feed roll 27 intermittently rotated so as to give the strip a forward feeding movement at each impression. This is herein provided for by mounting a ratchet wheel 30 on the shaft 28 of the feed roll and providing a feed pawl 31 by which the ratchet wheel 30 and shaft 28 are intermittently rotated. This pawl 31 carried by a pawl carrier or arm 32 which is pivotally mounted on the shaft 28 and which. has a link 33 connected thereto. This link extends up through an aperture in an arm 34 fixed to the frame 1 and the link is provided with stop collars 35. 36 which are situated either side of the arm The shaft 28 is carried by the frame which moves vertically with the head 6, and as the sha 't thus moves vertically, the pawl carrier 32 is oscillated about the shaft 28, thereby giving the ratchet wheel and feed wheel an intermittent rotary movement. This feed mg movement occurs during the upward movement of the head 6 and the extent the stop collars 35. 36 shown as nuts screwed onto the link is a guiding projection which cooperates with the wheel 26 to hold the strip 13 in proper position.

Means are provider, for moving the frame 23 from the operative position shown in full lines Figs. 1 and 2 into its inoperative position. as shown in Fig. 41, the construction lacing such that during the first downward 0 movement of the impression die the old leaf strip will be in its operative position to 'ause an impression to be made. and during the next downward movement of said d e said strip will he in its inoperativeposition shown in Fig. 4:, so that the die will come directly againstthe gold-leaf impressizri made upon the first downwari'l movement of the impression die.

This movement of the frame 23 from its ease re operative to its inoperative position and vice verse. is aerein secured through the cooperaiion of the swinging frame 17 and a L u'n spring d0, said spring being secured at one end to the frame and at the other end to the frame 1. Fig. at shows the parts when the machine is at rest. lVher the frame 1'? shings forwardly to apply sizing to the die 1, it engages a cross bar 71 on the fr..ne or carrier 23 and swings the latte forwardly, as shown in Fig. 5, thus carrying the strip 13 to the front of the impression die f. lVhen the frame 17 swings back into the position shown in Figs. 1 and 6, the frame 23 will be swung backwardly through the operation of the spring 10 and will be brought to rest by a suitable stop member either in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 6 or that shown in Figs. a and S. The stop member is movably mounted and means are provided to move it into either one of two positions, said stop member when in one position being operative tohring the frame 23 to rest in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 6, and when in the other position being operative to bring saic frame to rest in the position shown in Fi gs. f and 8. The means for operating the stop member causes said member to move in timed relation with the movements of the frame. The stop member is herein shown a stop arm 41 that is mounted on a holder d2 th t in turn is secured to the portion 19 of the frame. The carrier or frame 23 a shaft 4A mounted therein which has fast thereon a stop member 4:5 provided with stop faces situated at different distance from the axis of rotation. In the device herein illustrated this stop member to has four stop faces, two of the stop faces 16 being situated at a greater distance from the axis than the other two stop faces 47. The shaft it carries a ratchet wheel 18 and also has pivotally mounted thereon a pawl-carrier t 19 carrying a pawl 50 which cooperates with the ratchet wheel l8. This pawl carrier has a link 51 connected thereto, the upper end of which extends through an aperture in the fixed arm 3%, said link carrying adjustable stop collars 52 and 53. llhe ratchet wheel 1-8 has four ratchet teeth thereon and the parts are so constructed that as the head 6 rises and falls said ratchet wheel and shaft 4 1 will be given a quarter revolution at each vertical movement of the head. When the shaft i lis positioned so that one of the stop faces 41-6 comes into contact with the stop member t1, the frame 23 will be positioned so that the gold-leaf strip 13 is directly underneath the impression die 1:. When, however, the shaft A- is given av quarter turn and one of the faces 47 is positioned to engage the stop &1, the frame will then have the position shown in Figs. 4- and 6, in which position the gold-leaf strip 13 is out of line with the impression die.

The mechanism for operating and stop ping the machine (not shown) will be such that the machine will be brought to rest with the impression die separated from the work but before the head 6 has completed its upward movement, as seen in Fig. l. lVhen the machine is started the frame 17 is moved to carry the sizing roll across the face of the die, as seen in Fig. 5, thereby applying a coating of sizing to the die, and the frame 17 is withdrawn into the position shown in Figs. 1 and 6, and the head is then depressed. At this time the frame 23 is held in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 6 with the gold-leaf strip in the path of movement f the die so that as the impression die descends it engages the back side of the goldleaf strip and presses the latter against the work to. The sizing 0n the face 'of the die penetrates the backing 15 and the gold leaf and provides a sufficient quantity of sizing on the under face of the gold leaf to cause that portion thereof with which the impression die engages to adhere to the work. As the head 6 moves upwardly the shaft 44 is given a quarter revolution to bring the stop face 47 into operative position, and the frame 17 is swung forwardly to apply another coating of sizing to the impression die, as shown in Fig. 7 During this forward movement of the frame 17 the frame 23 is moved forwardly, and as the frame 17 moves backwardly, the spring 40 will move the frame 23 backwardly until the stop face 47 engages the stop finger 41. This brings the frame 23 to rest in the position shown in Fig. 8 with the gold-leaf strip 13 out of line with the die. As the sized die descends it contacts with the work at the same place as during the previous descent and the sized face of the die is thus brought into direct contact with the gold leaf which has been caused to adhere to the work by the former impression. This second impression of the die acts to seal the gold-leaf impression and also to give the same a lustrous finish. When the head 6 moves upwardly again the shaft 14 is given another quarter revolution, thus bringing the stop face 46 into operative position so that upon the next actuation of the head, the frame 23 will be positioned properly to place the gold-leaf strip 13 in the path of the die. During these reciprooations of the head 6 the feeding wheel 27 has been moved to feed the strip 13 forwardly so that at the next impression a fresh portion of the strip will be in position to receive the impact of the die.

61 indicates a buffer device which is connected with the frame 23 and which has for its purpose to cushion the movement thereof. This buffer device may be of the ordinary air dash-pot type with the cylinder element pivotally connected at 62 to the frame and the piston element pivotally connected at 63 al i #1..

to the frame 23. This cushion device constitutes an air check which will check the return movement of the swinging frame 23 'due to the action of the spring -10 and will thus prevent-the stop faces 46 and i7 from being brought against the stop finger 41 with too great an impact.

One advantage resulting from applying the sizing to the die is that it eliminates any danger of either the backing 15 or the gold leaf adhering to the die. Where an unsized die is used, it sometimes happens that the gold-leaf will stick to the die when the latter is removed, thus making an imperfect impression. The presence of the coating of sizing on the face of the die obviates this difficultyand insures the making of a cleancut impression and also insures that the face of the die will always be kept clean.

While in the above description I have referred to the invention as used in laying gold-leaf, yet I desire to state that the in vention is equally applicable for use in laying other metal leaf, such, for instance, as silver-leaf, or aluminum-leaf, and, therefore, the above reference to gold-leaf is merely for descriptive purposes and not in the way of placing any limitation on the invention.

While I have herein illustrated a selected embodiment of my invention by which the metal-leaf strip is brought into and out of the path of the die so that at one operation the die will engage the metal-leaf and at the next will come directly on the impression previously made, yet I do not wish to be limited to the constructional features shown, as other devices for accomplishing this object may be employed, all within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine for laying metal leaf, the combination with two cooperating impression-making elements, one of which is an impression-making die, of means to give said elements a movement relative to each other to cause an impression to be made, means to place metal leaf in position to be acted on by the die during one relative movement of the said elements into operative position and to withdraw the gold leaf during the next relative movement of said elements whereby during the second relative movement the die acts directly upon the impression previously made, and means to apply a coating of sizing to the face of the die prior to the second operation thereof.

2. In a machine for laying metal leaf, the combination with two impression-finaking elements, one of which is a die, of means to cause relative movement of said elements by which a succession of printing impressions are made upon the work, a carrier for holding metal leaf, and means operating in timed relation with said first- ,namedmeans to move the carrier into position to present the metal leaf sustained thereby in a position to be acted on by the die while one impression is being made and to withdraw said carrier from this position while the next succeeding impression is being made.

3. In a machine for laying metal leaf, the combination with two impression-making elements, one of which is a die, of means to give said elements a relative movement into and out of operative position, a carrier for holding metal leaf, means to move the carrier into position to present the metal leaf sustained thereby in a position to be acted on by the die during one relative movement of said elements and to withdraw said carrier from this position during the next succeeding relative movement, and means to apply a coating of sizing to the die before the latter relative movement.

4. in a machine for laying metal leaf, the combination with two impression-making elements, one of which is a die, of means to give said elements a relative movementinto and. out of operative position, a carrier for holding metal leaf, means to move the carrier into position to present the metal leaf sustained thereby in a position to be acted on by the die during one relative movement of said elements and to withdraw said carrier from this position during the next succeeding relative movement, and means to apply a coating of sizing to the die before each relative movement.

5. l. a machine for laying gold leaf, the combination with two impression making elements, one of which is a die, of means to move Said elements relative to each other to cause an impression to be made, a gold-leaf carrying strip, means operating in timed relation with such relative movement to present the strip in position to be acted on by the die during one of two successive relative movements of said elements into operative position and to withdraw said strip during the other of said relative movements.

6. In a machine for laying gold leaf, the combination with two impression-making elements, one of which is a die, of means to move said elements relative to each other to cause an impression to be made, a gold leaf carrying strip, means to present the strip in position to be acted on by the die during one of two successive relative movements of said elements into operative position and to withdraw said strip during the other of said relative movements, and means to apply a coating of sizing to the face of the die before the second impression is made.

'7. In a machine for laying gold leaf, the combination with a stationary platen, of a die, means to move the die toward and from the platen, a gold-leaf-carrying strip, means operating in timed relation with the movements of the die to introduce said strip between the die and platen while the die makes one impression and then to remove said strip while the die makes the next succeeding impression.

8. In a machine for laying gold leaf, the combination with a platen, of a die, means to move the die toward and from the platen, a gold-leaf-carrying strip, means to introduce said strip between the die and platen while the tie makes one impression and then to remove said strip while the die makes the next succeeding impression, and means to apply a coating of sizing to the die prior to the making of each impression thereby.

9. In a machine for laying gold leaf, the

combination with a stationary platen, of an impression die, a vertically-movable head carrying said die, means to move the head toward and from the platen, gold-leaf-supporting means sustained by and movable vertically with the head, and automatic means to move said supporting means laterally relative to the die to carry the gold leaf sustained thereby into and out of position to be acted on by the die and in timed rela tion with the movements thereof.

10. In a machine for laying gold leaf, the combination with a platen, of a die, a cliesupporting member, means to move the the supporting member toward and from the platen, a carrier secured to said member and movable laterally relative thereto, a goldleaf-bearing strip sustained by said carrier, and means operating in timed relation with the movements of the die to move the carrier to place said strip into position to be acted on by the die during one movement thereof and to withdraw said strip from such position during the next movement of the die.

11. In a machine for laying gold leaf, the combination with a platen, of a die, a diesupporting member, means to move the cliesupporting member toward and from the platen, a carrier secured to said member and movable laterally relative thereto, a gOlCl-lfiaf-bearing strip sustained by said carrier, means to move the carrier to present said strip into position to be acted on by the die during one movement thereof and to withdraw said strip from such position during the next movement of the die, and means to apply a coating of sizing to the die before each movement thereof.

In testimony whereof, I have signedmy name to this specification.

FRED A. PUTNAM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of, Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

